Contractor License ($25,000) Bond - Village of Lemont, IL in Illinois

Brief Summary

Lemont does not use one number. Section 5.14.050 sets the license and permit bond at $25,000, and then drops it to $10,000 for electrical contractors. The bond expires December 31 of the year it is written, the same day the license does, so a contractor who registers in November is buying a bond that has weeks left on it. Time the purchase with that in mind.

Before the Village of Lemont issues a contractor's license, section 5.14.050 of the Municipal Code requires the applicant to submit a license and permit bond to the Village in the penal sum of $25,000.00, or $10,000.00 for electrical contractors. The bond is security for the applicant's full and complete performance under the village permit and the applicable codes and ordinances of the Village. It expires December 31 of that year. The Village of Lemont is the obligee.

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How to Apply for a Contractor License ($25,000) Bond:

• Confirm your tier. Electrical contractors post $10,000 under section 5.14.050. Everyone else posts $25,000.
• Confirm whether you are exempt. The homeowner exemption reaches only an owner of a single-family residence who has lived there more than six months, and it does not apply to new construction.
• Line up a bond for every subcontractor on the job, since each one licenses and bonds separately.
• Plumbing contractors: have the IDPH contractor registration and plumbing license copies ready.
• Have the exact legal business name for the license application.
• Owner or principal name, home address and Social Security number for the credit review.
• Complete the bond application and review the quoted premium, keeping in mind the bond has to expire December 31 of the year it is written.
• Apply online through the Village permitting portal, pay the fee by credit card or e-check, and file the bond and the certificate of insurance listing the Village as certificate holder.

Detailed Information About the Illinois Contractor License ($25,000) Bond:

The electrical tier is the one people miss

Section 5.14.050 reads in one sentence: a license and permit bond in the penal sum of $25,000.00, for electrical contractors $10,000.00. Every other trade in the chapter posts $25,000. An electrical contractor buying a $25,000 bond is buying more than Lemont asks for.

There is a related trap on the Village side. The Building Department lists electrical, plumbing, irrigation, fire alarm and fire sprinkler as trades that pay no license fee. That is a fee exemption, not a bond exemption. Section 5.14.050 still conditions issuance of the license on the bond.

Every sub on the job needs one

Section 5.14.020(b) is blunt. For every construction permit issued, the general contractor and all subcontractors on the job shall be licensed with the Village and pay the license fee, and all contractors must provide proof of insurance and bond as provided in the chapter. A general contractor cannot bond the job for its subs. Each one files its own.

The trade list is long

Section 5.14.010 defines a contractor as any person engaged in the business of constructing, altering or repairing buildings or other structures or sidewalks or street pavements, and then names carpentry, cement or concrete, dry wall, electrical, fencing, garage, general, heating and air conditioning and refrigeration, grounds work, masonry, paving, plastering, porch and deck, sewer and drain layers, sheet metal, siding, swimming pool, window and wrecking contractors, and says the list is not limited to those.

The homeowner exemption, and the line it stops at

Section 5.14.020(c)(1) says a homeowner does not need a contractor's license for work on his or her own residence. Section 5.14.010 defines homeowner narrowly as a person who owns a single-family residence and has lived in that residence for a period longer than six months. Buy a house in March and start work in May and you are outside the definition.

The exception has an exception. New construction projects are carved out, and there the homeowner has to meet all the requirements of a general contractor, which puts the bond back on the table.

Plumbing contractors have their own paperwork

Section 5.14.020(c)(2) requires all plumbing contractors to submit a copy of their Illinois Department of Public Health contractor's registration and a copy of their plumbing license. That is in addition to whatever the chapter requires of them, not instead of it.

Everything expires December 31

Section 5.14.030 expires all contractor licenses on December 31 of each year, and section 5.14.050 requires the bond to expire December 31 of that year. The two dates are deliberately aligned. Nothing in the chapter prorates the fee for a license taken out late in the year.

Fees, and two ways to pay less

Section 5.14.040 leaves the annual fee to be set by ordinance, and the Village's Building Department page puts it at a flat $100 for general contractors and subcontractors, with electrical, plumbing, irrigation, fire alarm and fire sprinkler contractors paying no fee. Subsection (b) says a contractor who already holds a business license for an office located in the Village pays only the difference in fees to get the contractor's license. Subsection (c) waives license fees entirely for a contractor engaged exclusively in work under the Cook County Community Development Block Grant program through the Village or an approved agency, though normal fees apply if that contractor takes other work during the license term.

Insurance is separate and specific

Section 5.14.060 requires insurance placed with companies authorized under Illinois insurance law, with minimum coverage of not less than $100,000.00 per person for worker's compensation and employee's liability, not less than $250,000.00 comprehensive public liability for injuries including accidental death to any person and the same limit for any one accident, and not less than $100,000.00 property damage for any one accident with an aggregate of not less than $300,000.00. The certificate has to come from the contractor's insuring agent and list the Village as a certificate holder. The bond does not stand in for any of this.

How you actually file

Since August 29, 2022 the Village accepts contractor license applications only online, through its permitting portal, paid by credit card or e-check. The Building Department states that licenses will not be processed until fees are paid and all liability and workers compensation insurance requirements are met, and that contractors working without a valid license face citations and stop work orders.

Eligibility and Requirements for a Illinois Contractor License ($25,000) Bond:

• A license and permit bond in the penal sum of $25,000, or $10,000 for an electrical contractor.
• Village of Lemont named as obligee.
• Bond expiring December 31 of the year it is issued.
• Bond written as security for full and complete performance under the village permit and the applicable codes and ordinances.
• Certificate of insurance from the contractor's insuring agent listing the Village as a certificate holder, at the minimums in section 5.14.060.
• Separate license and bond for the general contractor and for every subcontractor on the permit.
• Business name on the bond matching the license application.
• Owner credit review. At these bond sizes credit generally shapes the rate rather than eligibility.

Illinois Contractor License ($25,000) Bond FAQs:

Official and Additional Resources for the Illinois Contractor License ($25,000) Bond: